The present disclosure relates to assessing the integrity of a structure and, more particularly, to methods and systems for structural health monitoring.
Known structures may be inspected to determine whether the structure has developed any weaknesses and/or conditions that could potentially impact the structural health of the structure. For example, at least some known structures are subjected to stresses and/or tensions that could lead to a weakened area, such as a crack in the structure. To determine the existence of such conditions and potentially extend the life of the structure, structural health monitoring (SHM) systems may be used.
Some known SHM systems include at least one transducer positioned to cause a signal to be transmitted at least partially through the structure. Due to structural characteristics and/or material properties of the structure, the signals passing through the structure are attenuated. Another transducer detects the attenuated signal and the signals output by such transducers are used to evaluate the structural health of the structure.
Typically, not all signals output by the detecting transducer are usable to evaluate structural health. For example, at least some of the signals output by the detecting transducer may have relatively low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Discarding such signals, however, results in a loss of information related to the structure. As a consequence, the accuracy and/or completeness of the structural health evaluation may be adversely impacted. To facilitate reducing a likelihood for at least some transmitted signals being disrupted by noise and/or other interferences, at least some SHM systems have a relatively high transducer density. High-transducer-density SHM systems, however, are typically associated with an increased cost, weight, wiring, need for computer resources, and/or likelihood of failure.